Addiction
by HoldMeAndNeverLetMeGo
Summary: Sarah, Zoey, Skinner and Grace are a band from Jacksonville, FL. They get signed by Gustavo's nemisis, they meet the boys, etc. Better than it sounds.
1. Sarah Powell

**I don't own Big Time Rush. These first four chapters are sort of intros to the characters.**

**Sarah Powell POV**

I could hear the shouts over the music coming from my iPod. I was trying to write a paper for my World Geography class. I heard my mom scream as something hit the wall; he threw something at her. I hated calling that man my dad.

I asked my mom why she kept that creep around. He beat her since I was three and raped and sodomized me when I was eight and thirteen. Mom kicked him out many times before, but he told her he changed a month later, she believed. Mom said she loved him too much.

I heard my mom shriek, "Please, no! Sarah, get out! Run!" I heard big footsteps coming down the hall to my door. I ran to my window and opened it. I threw my Fender and packed duffel (I was hoping Mom and I would leave together soon) out the window, thanking God that my bedroom was on the first floor of the house. I turned back to my bed and stuffed my iPod and phone in my pocket.

The knob on my door turned. My dad walked in as I was crawling out the window. He grabbed my foot; my heart skipped a beat. I struggled as hard as I could and eventually kicked him in the face. My dad—startled—let go of my foot. As soon as I was out the window, I picked up my guitar and duffel. I heard my dad yell, "Yeah, go and be a whore like your mom!"

I ran for it, I sprinted to the first place that came into my mind: Zoey's.


	2. Zoey Young

**Zoey Young POV**

I looked at the cuts, a reminder of my crappy life. I stared at the torn picture of Gabe Willis, my ex-boyfriend. I didn't cut just because of him; I wouldn't let the boy have that satisfaction. I cut because of stress, anxiety, worry.

I glanced at the knife on my desk; I fought myself internally about picking it up and slicing one more gash in my wrist. I knew that one cut would turn into two, which would turn into much more. I gazed at my thighs; the white scars on my tan skin still read out 'HELP ME'.

The only person who really knew and cared about my health—besides Sarah, Skinner and Grace—was my twin sister, Amanda. I just pushed her away.

I picked up my bass and started tuning it. I barely played at all before Amanda walked in. I saw her glimpse at my knee scars. She was about to say something when I interrupted her, "Get out."

Amanda looked hurt, she was always sensitive, "Zoey," she shifted to her other foot, fingering her charm bracelet that I gave to her when we were fourteen, I was slightly touched that she still had it, "I'm worried about you—"

"Well, don't be." I snapped, "I don't want your pity."

"You've been cutting again haven't you?" I looked at her face, but not in her eyes, she looked truly concerned, "You always get irritable when you do."

"Just get out, Amanda!" I yelled. She obliged reluctantly. I heard a knock on my window; I looked out and saw Sarah. I let her in immediately. She fell asleep in my chair when she came in; I didn't need an explanation of what happened.


	3. Skinner Hughes

**Skinner Hughes POV**

I was at soccer practice, but my head wasn't in it, which was weird; usually I wouldn't let anything get me off my game. So many things were crammed inside my head. On the way to practice, I got a text from Zoey saying Sarah crashed at her place at 10 last night and that Ted tried to rape Sarah again.

That new girl on the soccer team, Claire, was also really good. Claire was probably my biggest competitor on the field; she was a senior and had clearly been playing since she could run. I could tell Coach liked her better than me already. It sort of bothered me, I was always Coach's favorite, but that didn't get me anywhere, my talent did.

We were scrimmaging, juniors and half the sophomores versus seniors and the other half of sophomores. Since I was a junior, I was of course playing against Claire. The time to prove myself worthy of being on this team was now.

Claire had the ball and was in front of me; she charged and knocked me over, but she wouldn't have gotten flagged for it if it was a real game. I felt myself hit the turf and my head bang against the ground. Coach blew his whistle because Claire scored; Julie, a sophomore I was playing against, helped me up. I looked over at Claire, basking in the praise of her apparently fantastic goal on Desiree.

"Are you okay, Skinner?" Julie asked, "You look pale."

"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks. I think I just need some water." I replied as Reagan, a junior, came over to check on me.

As I got some water, Claire came over, "Hey, Steiner. Are you alright?"

I tensed, I hated my real name, "It's Skinner and I'm fine."

Claire smiled, "Damn it."

"Go to hell, Claire," Reagan said, her Brooklyn accent shining through, "the only person here that likes you is Coach, and he only likes you 'cause your good at soccer."

After practice, I decided to go to Zoey's.


	4. Grace Cameron

**Grace Cameron POV**

I went to my room after having lunch with my huge family—seven brothers and two sisters. I decided to check my e-mail. We—Sarah, Zoey, Skinner and myself—had a band and sent a video of our concert for the school to raise money for Joplin and Haiti and other places recovering from natural disasters to six different record producers.

So far, we had two straight-up no's, one polite you're-not-what-were-looking-for, one that died of a stroke before he could reply. I logged into my e-mail and I saw that I had two unread e-mails. One was from Gustavo Rocque; I chose to open that one first. What he wrote wasn't pretty; he also said no.

The other e-mail was from Geoffrey Stone. The e-mail read:

_Hello girls of Addiction, I am Geoffrey Stone, head of Stone Records in Los Angeles. I would like to fly you girls out to L.A. to my studio to record some demos and possibly become famous through Stone Records. The criticism I have is the drumming is very good, but the set needs replacing. If you take this offer, you would stay in the Palmwood's Hotel, you will need an adult guardian. Sincerely, Geoffrey Stone._

I screamed and fell out of my chair. My older sister, Tessa, came in to see what the problem was. I was shouting, "L.A.! WE'RE GOING TO L.A.! GEOFFREY STONE WANTS US!"

I called Zoey, knowing that Sarah and Skinner were at her house. They freaked out at the news. I knew I had to go over there; I printed off the e-mail and drove to her house.


	5. Guardian

**I ONLY OWN MY OCs**

**Skinner POV**

We were freaking out since Grace came over with the letter and the news that a record producer wants to sign us. Our parents said it was okay with them for us to go; we were trying to figure out who would be our adult guardian.

"My dads can't go. They have to work and they absolutely cannot be separated." I piped in; my dads were gay and got really irritated when they were apart.

"Neither one of my parents are even an option." Sarah said, "I love my mom but she's made too many stupid mistakes. And my dad…" She trailed off; Grace patted her on the back.

Grace looked up from her feet, "My parents provide for ten kids," she sighed, "they just can't pick up and leave."

We all looked to Zoey with a hopeful look, she scoffed and said, "My parents never even care about me cutting, they won't care that if we don't get a guardian, we can't go." She rolled her eyes, "Anyone else?"

I nearly fell off Zoey's desk, "Zack!" Zack was my adopted brother. Although we act like legitimate siblings, we're not really related. Everyone looked at me like I was crazy, "C'mon guys. Zack is twenty-three and he has no life. No job, no girlfriend, he only has like ten friends." I felt proud this idea hit me; Zack told me he would do anything for me last week. "It's perfect!" To my left, I saw Sarah shrugging her shoulders and Grace was nodding and twirling the green streak in her black hair.

Zoey had an eyebrow raised, "Well," she sighed, "I guess it could work." I cheered while Grace and Sarah high-fived.

I leaped off Zoey's desk, "I'll call him." I said cheerily.

**Sarah POV**

I was ecstatic that Geoffrey Stone wanted to sign us, "Hey guys," I started, "when Skinner gets back, let's put something nice together for Geoffrey, you know, in case he asks us to do something."

Zoey's eyes lit up, she was the biggest rocker of our band, "Good idea, Powell." She began to pace the length of her room, "Maybe something Hey Monday?"

Grace groaned, "Do we have to plan tonight?" she fell backward onto the bean bag she was sitting on, "The tickets he sent us aren't until Tuesday, it's only Saturday."

"Grace Andromeda Cameron." Zoey scolded, "We can't all procrastinate like you." Zoey was always kind of harsh, "But we love you."

There was a knock on the door and Mrs. Young came in with pizza and set it down. "Thanks Mrs. Young."

We all picked up a piece after she left and started eating, brainstorming ideas for Geoffrey Stone.

**Skinner POV**

"'Kay, Bye Zack. Thanks." I said as I hung up the phone. "Guess who our guardian is?" I sang although I couldn't sing for shit, which is why I was the drummer.

I heard 'yes's and 'Hollywood's coming from Zoey's bedroom. I walked in and saw there was pizza on a table; my stomach growled. I hadn't eaten in two days; I mentally slapped myself for wanting a piece of pizza.

Zoey was waving me over, "Skin, come get a slice."

I walked over and grabbed a piece. I sat down and bit into it. It tasted delicious. I only got halfway through the slice before I started hating myself. "I have to go to the bathroom." I declared; I set down my pizza and walked to the bathroom. I locked the door and knelt down next to the toilet. I stuck my finger down my throat until I got it; I removed my finger right before I threw up.

I don't barf to get thin; I already am thin because I do, like, a million different sports. I barf so I stay thin so I can do what I love. The girls didn't know I had bulimia, no one did.

I walked right back out to the girls talking about doing Hurricane Streets by Hey Monday for Geoffrey. We fell asleep practicing.

**TrAnSiTiOn…..**

The boys of Big Time Rush hacked Gustavo Rocque's computer after he went for dinner. They wanted to see the band he turned down. Gustavo said it was an all-girl band, so, of course, the boys were interested.

"Okay," Kendall Knight said, "Gustavo's password. What would it be?" He wriggled his bushy eyebrows in thought.

"Rocque Records?" Logan Mitchell piped in, the only logical thing he could think of.

"Could it be," Carlos Garcia began, "corndog?" All the other boys looked at him like he was crazy. He shrugged his shoulders, "It was a thought."

"How about dogs?" James Diamond thought aloud, "You know, because he's always calling us dogs?"

It was the best guess they had so Kendall typed in d-o-g-s. A new screen popped up saying, 'Welcome Gustavo'. Everyone high-fived James; Logan said, "I don't know whether I should be flattered or insulted."

Kendall found the e-mail addressed from GracieCam and clicked on it. An embedded link to YouTube was in the e-mail. Kendall clicked on it. The title of the video was titled Toxic Valentine-ATL Addiction Cover. They were good.

"They're hot!" James exclaimed; the other boys couldn't help nodding in agreement.

"How could Gustavo not sign them?" Carlos asked, "They're good and hot and they play instruments. That's, like, a new triple threat."

"Come on, guys," Kendall said, "it's only six; Gustavo will probably be back soon."

"Too correct, Kendall." Said an all-too familiar voice, "What do you think you dogs are doing?"

**Hope you liked it . Reviews make the world go round. Who do you think is gonna end up with who?**


	6. Spy

**I never have nor will I ever own Big Time Rush or any of its affiliates.**

"Gustavo!" Kendall tried to play it off casually, "We were just seeing if your computer was working right." The boys started inching their way to the door, "Turns out everything is running smoothly. You're welcome." Kendall smiled.

Gustavo let out a roar of anger, "What are you doing?" he grabbed Kendall by the shoulders and shook him, "I told you Dogs never to touch my computer!" He threw the boys aside and went to his computer; he stared blankly at the screen, "This is all you did? Looked up these girls?"

Carlos looked frightened, but spoke, "How could you not sign them, Gustavo? They're hot and good."

"You dare question my judgment?" Gustavo was seething with anger, "They're amateurs!"

"But weren't we as well?" Logan said, "James was the only one of us who actually wanted this." James let out a smile while Logan continued, "But you trained us, you could train them too."

Gustavo kept shaking his head when James spoke, "Logan's right. I was the only one. But still, Gustavo, they would be a great addition for Rocque Records. A great chance to make Rocque Records bigger, to broaden your horizons."

"I said no!" Gustavo screamed, but the boys kept nagging him until he couldn't take it anymore, "OKAY, OKAY, I'll call them tomorrow! This Grace girl left a number." The boys cheered.

**Grace POV**

I woke up with Sarah and Zoey staring at me and Skinner; I could tell they were waiting for us to wake up. I shook the bean bag Skinner was sleeping on really hard; she screamed and fell off. Zoey let out a loud 'HA'. Skinner glared at her, but couldn't help breaking out into smile. Skinner was always the soft one, the one always in a good mood. She sat back up on her bean bag and punched me lightly on the shoulder.

Our voices started coming from my cell phone; I was getting a call. The area code showed that it was a call from Los Angeles. I picked it up and turned it on speaker, thinking it was Geoffrey Stone. "Hi." We all said in unison.

"Hello," the voice said, "is this Grace Cameron?"

"Her and Sarah, Zoey and Skinner." I said, "All of Addiction right here."

"Good," he said, "this is Gustavo Rocque—"

"Wait," Skinner interrupted, "Gustavo Rocque as in Big Time Rush."

"Yes," Gustavo sounded like his patience was being tested, "anyway—"

"Aww," Skinner interrupted again, "they're so cute!"

"Sure," Gustavo growled, "they said the same about you girls." All of us squealed, we weren't obsessive fan girls, we just liked their music and thought they were hot, "Anyway, I was wondering if I could take back that no and turn it into a yes."

We all looked at each other, Sarah spoke up, "Sorry, Mr. Rocque, but since you said no, we took Geoffrey Stone's offer."

"But we'll be coming into L.A. on Tuesday. We'll be at the Palmwoods probably by 4PM then, so if you want to see us, stop by." Zoey said.

Gustavo sounded strained when he said, "Okay, girls, bye."

TrAnSiTiOn…

The boys were anxiously awaiting the outcome of Gustavo's phone call with the girls of Addiction. They were standing outside his office, hoping that the girls took the deal. They heard a roar of frustration come from Gustavo's office. They walked in extremely slowly, one by one. Gustavo looked really angry.

"So," Carlos began in a cheery tone, "how'd it go?"

"They—already—accepted—Geoffrey—Stone's—offer!"

"Who's Geoffrey Stone?" Kendall and James asked at the same time.

"Don't say his name!" Gustavo yelled, "He's my worst enemy. His company is down the street from the Palmwoods." Gustavo looked at all the boys, "The girls are coming in on Tuesday, and they're staying in the Palmwoods. You four will befriend the girls and convince them to come to Rocque Records."

Carlos looked excited, "So, this is, like, a spy mission?" he looked at the other boys; they all grinned at each other.

"Exactly."

**Zoey POV**

"Okay, from the top." I told everyone. We started playing Hurricane Streets. Sarah was singing and sounded exactly like Cassadee Pope. I noticed something, "Fuck, stop." I called.

Sarah stopped singing and playing her guitar after the chorus, Grace stopped playing her Fender too. It took awhile to get Skinner to stop drumming, but she did eventually. "Damn it, what's the problem, ZZ?" Skinner asked me, "I thought we sounded good."

"Yeah, we did." I unplugged my bass from the amp and walked over to a drawer, "But if we want to be amazing, we have to record it and see what to correct." I pulled out a camcorder and pressed record, "Begin."

Skinner tapped her purple duct taped sticks to set the beat.

**I do not own Hey Monday, and once again, the song is Hurricane Streets by Hey Monday. Please review, they keep me going. **


	7. Negotiation

**I don't own Big Time Rush or anything besides my OCs.**

**Zoey POV**

I was on edge the whole plane ride. I was always terrified of heights and I didn't understand how a plane weighing thousands of pounds could stay in the air. Every bit of turbulence we hit, I closed my eyes and grabbed Grace's arm; my nails eventually dug into her skin and made her bleed. She finally had to ask the flight attendant for a pillow so I would stop clawing her. Sarah and Skinner were trying to calm me down, but it wasn't working. I was shaking; the pilot came on over the speaker, telling us that the seat belt light was now on and we would be landing soon. I didn't have to worry about my seatbelt because I didn't take it off.

"Zo," Sarah said, "it's almost over. You're alright."

I didn't listen to her; I just absentmindedly said, "I have to pee."

"How long have you had to pee?" Skinner asked.

"Since we got on the plane."

"Zoey!" Sarah said, "Why didn't you go?"

"I was scared."

"Well," Grace sighed, "hold it in; I don't want to smell piss for the rest of the flight."

Skinner addressed the man across the aisle, "Sir?" she asked politely, "Could you wake that man next to you, please?"

The man, a short, plump Hispanic man, looked like he spoke little English and looked very confused.

I stepped in and translated, "Señor, ¿podría despertar al hombre a tu lado?" being Hispanic definitely had its benefits. The man understood this time and tapped Zack on the shoulder, "Gracias." I told him.

"What do you want, Skin?" Zack asked sleepily, rubbing his eyes.

"You know the plan?" Skinner asked, obviously worried that Zack would mess things up, "We get our luggage, catch a taxi and go straight to the Palmwoods." Skinner sat her chair up reluctantly after the flight attendant asked her to with fake politeness, "You can go up to our room and sleep; we'll be up there shortly after. We're meeting in the lobby with Gustavo Rocque."

Zack looked confused, "Gustavo Rocque? I thought Geoffrey Stone was signing you guys?"

I spoke up, "It turns out now Gustavo Rocque wants to sign us too, so we're meeting with him, just in case." I didn't look straight at Zack; it was always awkward around him for me. I had the biggest crush on him last year and he found out.

I felt a descent and knew we were finally going to land in L.A.

I clutched my pillow and crossed my fingers.

After we got off the plane, I dragged Sarah off to the bathroom with me. When we came back, Grace and Skinner had our stuff saved for us."

"Where'd Zack go?" Sarah asked.

"He went to go catch us a cab," Grace spoke up, "there it is." She and Skinner shoved our bags toward us, "Take your stuff."

We grabbed our luggage and walked out to Zack and our taxi. Unfortunately, the cab he got was one with only four doors. Zack had to sit in the front seat; Sarah, Grace, Skinner and I packed the backseat after the cab driver helped us put our bags in the trunk.

Grace, with her ADHD and claustrophobia, had found the button that opened the sunroof. She and Skinner stuck their arms out the roof; Sarah whispered, "Los Angeles." I cat-called.

Our driver was probably really annoyed, but he didn't say anything. When we got to the Palmwoods, he looked extremely grateful. He looked pointedly at Zack, "That will be forty-five dollars." He said in a heavy Arabian accent. Zack reached into his wallet and handed the man two twenties and a five. The cab driver got out of the taxi and took our bags out of the trunk. We thanked him and went through the entrance doors.

**Sarah POV**

The people in the Palmwoods lobby were eccentric, to say the least. There was a girl about our age who was crying and then slapped a boy in the face; the weird thing was the boy didn't even look surprised. There was a guy with a guitar, strumming randomly; a ginger **(A/N: don't think I'm trying to hate on redheads; I'm not. I love gingers.)** kid looked like he was hiding from somebody. Three girls around our age, maybe a year older, were looking down on everyone else; through an open door, there were four guys who seemed our age with a girl about eleven wreaking havoc by the pool.

Zack told us to find seats while he checked us in; we sat at the couches opposite the drama. We started talking about what we would say to Gustavo Rocque. Zack came back in about seven minutes and said, "Our room is 2L; the 2 stands for second floor." He told us like we were seven, "Text me if you need anything. I'll be upstairs sleeping." He left. Skinner rolled her eyes when he was gone; she told us all he did was sleep.

We waited in the lobby for awhile. It took about ten minutes for Gustavo Rocque to get there. He was a very large man wearing sunglasses. We stood up to meet him.

Gustavo walked over to us, "So, which one of you is Grace Cameron?"

Grace raised her hand, "I'm Grace Cameron; I'm second guitarist and a back vocalist. That's Sarah," she gestured to me and I smiled and waved, "she's first guitarist and our lead vocalist. Zoey's right there; she's the bassist and other back vocalist." Zoey gave him a 'sup nod and Skinner burst out laughing, "And that's Skinner; she's our drummer."

Gustavo looked us over, "What would get you girls to join Rocque Records?"

"What could you offer us," Zoey started, "perks wise?" she sat down on the couch, "Stone has offered us iPads, new instruments and an indoor soccer field for Skinner." Zoey looked at Gustavo questionably.

Gustavo made a 'psh' noise, "Forget iPads. You can't carry those around in your pockets; I could get you iPhones. I could buy you any instruments you want. And I have a whole gym in my studio." Gustavo looked like a thought hit him, "I also have Big Time Rush." Gustavo sat down across from Zoey, "I could arrange a meeting with the dogs if you girls would consider coming to Rocque Records, maybe even spin the bottle with them."

Zoey looked doubtful, but then she shocked me by saying, "I'm in." she saw me looking at her funny, then said, "Anything to get even more over Gabe."

I shrugged, "If Zo's in, I'm in." Grace nodded her head uneasily.

Skinner looked afraid; she liked Conner Paulsen back home. Grace patted her shoulder before she said, "I'll do it."

Gustavo looked extremely pleased, "Excellent. I will have Kendall's mother out of the apartment at seven." He asked us what room we were in, "Perfect." He said, "I will have the boys come to your apartment and take you to theirs."


End file.
